The Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory (IPRCE) is one of 12 organizations awarded funding from the National Council on Aging and Administration for Community Living to enhance Georgia’s fall prevention coalition. The center received a nearly $150,000 grant to work collaboratively with stakeholders across the state to reduce falls and minimize risks among aging adults.
“We are so proud to accept this grant to strengthen our fall prevention network and establish best practices for reducing falls among older adults in Georgia,” says IPRCE Director Jonathan Rupp, PhD. “Falls can have a huge impact on a person’s quality of life. Preventing them takes all of us, not just one or two organizations. We’re excited to embark on this cross-sector work and support both older adults and their caregivers.”
Nationally, falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries for older Americans. In Georgia, 30% of older adults age 65 and older fall each year. Through practical lifestyle adjustments, evidence-based falls prevention programs and clinical-community collaborations, the number of falls among older adults can be substantially reduced.
Over an 18-month-grant period, IPRCE will work to recruit new coalition members, review existing challenges toward preventing falls in Georgia, prioritize goals and create programming aimed at advancing fall prevention.
“Through the distribution of micro-grants and technical assistance, IPRCE aims to increase opportunities for community organizations to implement evidence-based fall prevention programming in communities across Georgia — particularly in rural regions where aging populations face higher risk of injury from falls,” says Rupp.
IPRCE is one of six organizations nationwide selected to expand and enhance existing falls prevention coalitions. The additional six organizations are in states with no established state coalitions.
IPRCE is working with organizations like the Georgia Department of Public Health and Area Agencies on Aging to assess their community’s falls prevention needs and develop training to support program implementation. By leveraging established relationships, IPRCE collaborates across community structures including, libraries, trauma centers, faith-based communities and other agencies to strengthen and enhance collaboration among coalition members. These actions support the implementation for evidence-based programming that will reduce falls and improve health and safety for Georgia’s older adults.
About IPRCE
Founded in 1993, the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory is a collaborative, multi-institutional research center working to mitigate the impact of injury in our communities. Using a data-driven and participatory approach, IPRCE addresses the most significant injury concerns in Georgia and the Southeast region. The center has taskforce workgroups addressing drug safety, fall prevention, transportation safety, traumatic brain injury prevention, violence prevention and injury and equity.
